PROGRAM-EVALUATION STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITY-BASED HEALTH PROMOTION PROGRAMS - PERSPECTIVES FROM THE CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE COMMUNITY RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION STUDIES

Community-based programs are being widely adopted in the struggle to p revent chronic disease. Program evaluation of community-based programs involves a particular set of problems stemming from the variety of ac tivities being undertaken simultaneously, the multiple intermediate go als of the programs and the rapidity with which the programs evolve. A n analysis of the experience of four large community-based cardiovascu lar disease research and demonstration studies (Stanford Five-City Pro ject, Minnesota Heart Health Program, Pawtucket Heart Health Program a nd the German Cardiovascular Prevention Project) provides valuable mod els, methodologies and strategies for planning and conducting evaluati ons of public health programs or community studies. By comparing and c ombining their experiences, the four programs have identified eight ca tegories of evaluation for community studies, including formative eval uation, quality assurance, assessment of delivered dose, assessment of received dose, component program impact, intermediate outcomes, commu nity impact and cost analysis. This paper presents information on the strategies by which each of the four programs addressed these evaluati on categories.